SENATE, No. 1831
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED JANUARY 29, 1997
By Senator MacINNES
An Act concerning the payment of certain construction-related fees by counties and municipalities and amending P.L.1985, c.409 and repealing P.L.1948, c.413.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.1985, c.409 (C.52:27D-126c) is amended to read as follows:
1. [No county, municipality, or any agency or instrumentality thereof shall be required to pay any municipal fee or charge in order to secure a construction permit for the erection or alteration of any public building or part thereof from the municipality wherein the building may be located.] Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, rule or regulation to the contrary, a municipality may charge any county, municipality or any agency or instrumentality thereof which undertakes the construction or alteration of a public building or part thereof a municipal fee or charge to cover the costs of plan review and any inspection associated with such alteration or construction. No erection or alteration of any public building or part thereof by a county, municipality, school board, or any agency or instrumentality thereof shall be subject to any fee, including any surcharge or training fee, imposed by any department or agency of State government pursuant to any law, or rule or regulation, except that nothing contained in this section shall be interpreted as preventing the imposition of a fee upon a board of education by either the Department of Education for plan review or by a municipality for the review of plans or any inspection associated therewith submitted to it pursuant to the provisions of section 12 of P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-130).
(cf: P.L.1990, c.23, s.4)
2. P.L.1948, c.413 (C.40:23-6.20) is hereby repealed.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill permits a municipality to charge any county, municipality or any agency or instrumentality thereof which undertakes the construction or alteration of a public building or part thereof a municipal fee or charge to cover the costs of plan review and any inspection associated with such alteration or construction. The bill also permits a municipality to charge a board of education a fee to cover the cost by a municipality for the review of plans or any inspection associated therewith submitted to it pursuant to the provisions of section 12 of P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-130). The bill also repeals P.L.1948, c.413 (C.40:23-6.20), which provides that no county having a population in excess of 400,000 inhabitants (other than a county of the first class), or the board of chosen freeholders or any of its contractors, shall be required to pay any municipal fee or charge for a construction permit for the erection or alteration of a public building to the municipality in which the building is to be located.
This statutory exemption from the payment of construction permit fees has placed a financial burden on municipalities in which county-owned buildings are being constructed, because these municipalities must absorb the costs of plan review and inspection without reimbursement. This burden can be particularly onerous in situations in which the municipality employs a private inspection agency, which charges fixed rates for its services. In such cases, the taxpayers of the municipality which hosts the facility, who already are absorbing the property tax burden represented by the lost ratable on behalf of the whole county, end up footing the bill for plan review and inspection as well.
The effect of this bill will, in the case of a county construction project, spread the cost of the project to all county taxpayers, and not simply the taxpayers of the municipality in which the project is located.
Removes prohibition on payment of certain construction-related fees by counties and municipalities.